Next week (June 11 to June 15), Mechanical equipment deliveries and work on them will continue at the 17th and 18th floor levels. The superstructure concrete work will be completed on the building buy the end of the month. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic.

The following week (June 18 to June 22), we will be working on the machine room levels on the 17th and 18th floors. Deliveries for the internal systems of the building have been ongoing and will continue, although they should not greatly affect the flow of pedestrian and road traffic. The crane on site will be demobilized and removed from site at the end of June.

This weekend the site will be open on Saturday, June 9th for superstructure related activities between the work hours of 7AM and 5PM as permitted by the City. To control noise levels within the site, work activities will be limited to the placement of formwork and concrete, plumbing and electrical work, rebar for concrete placement, using the crane and equipment to support all activities. Safety horns are used, and required by law, to coordinate lifting with the crane and to alert the workers of the danger overhead. We have directed the operators to limit the use of horns to one short sounding and to use the crane later in the day .

13th St.’s Corkbuzz has been closed for a year, and it looks like its sucessor, Varith, a new Thai restaurant, is set to open in the space. Renovations have just begun. A partnership between New York City Thai restaurant operators Top Thai and Valla Table has signed a 10-year lease.The deal includes 3,500 square feet on the ground floor, 1,000 square feet of basement space, and 2,500 square feet of lower-level space for a speakeasy-style lounge. Led by chef and operator Chuck Valla, the new restaurant will be named after Valla’s mother and represents “a deeply personal passion project for all parties involved,” Meridian said.

Here’s an interview with Chuck Valla. 

Here are some details from the liquor license application:

–Premises will be operated and advertised as a full-service Thai restaurant with the kitchen open and full menu items available until closing every night.
–Hours of operation will be 11 AM to 11 PM Sundays through Saturdays (7 days a week). All
patrons will be cleared and no patrons will remain after stated closing time.
–Will not operate as a Lounge, Tavern or Sports Bar or allow any portion of premises to be
operated in that manner.
–Will not operate a backyard garden or any other outdoor area for commercial purposes including any sidewalk café and/or roadbed seating.
–Will play recorded background music at conversational levels only so as not to cause a
disturbance in any adjacent residences at any time.
–Will not have televisions.
–Will close all doors and windows at all times, allowing only for patron ingress and egress.
–Will not have patron occupancy/service to any portion of the basement of licensed premises.
–Will not install or have French doors, operable windows or open facades.
–Will not make changes to the existing façade except to change signage or awning.
–Will comply with NYC Department of Buildings Regulations and will keep current at all times required Permits and Certificates
–Will not have unlimited drink or unlimited food and drink specials. Will not have “boozy
brunches.” No pitchers of beer.
–There will be no “bottle service” or the sale of bottles of alcohol except for the sale of bottles of beer or wine products
–Will not have dancing, DJ’s, live music, promoted events, any event where a cover fee is charged or any scheduled performances, velvet ropes or metal barricades or security personnel/doormen.

Sounds like the long-vacant restaurant space on the west side of University between 11th and 12th (next to Grey Dog) will soon become a 66-seat Thai restaurant.

Partea, an arcade with bubble tea and fried chicken sandwiches, opened in Flushing, Queens back in September 2020. Now, the team has expanded across the water to Manhattan, with a new outpost at 220 E. 14th Street, near Third Avenue, in Union Square. Like in Queens, certain meal combos come with “surprise” plushie toys, and there’s a snack menu to pick from that includes Taiwanese sausages, cuttlefish balls, and spicy wings. The Union Square location is currently open, and a grand opening party is planned for August 18. Meanwhile, the team is already plotting a west coast expansion, with Parteas planned for West Covina and Little Tokyo, in Los Angeles. Partea Union Square will stay open most nights until 11 p.m.